Ball and socket game device

ABSTRACT

There is disclosed an elongate box having a transparent top portion, and under the top portion a plate having a flat horizontal surface and a contiguous inclined flat surface, the box containing a plurality of groups of colored balls resting on said plate, the balls of each group being of a color different from the balls of the other groups, the horizontal surface of the plate having five rows of hemispherical sockets to receive some of the balls when the box is tilted to cause the balls resting on said inclined surface to roll over the horizontal socketcontaining surface and after the box is tilted back to cause the balls not retained in the sockets to roll onto the inclined surface, the scoring being based on the number of rows of sockets containing the same color balls.

United States Patent Hartley 1 July 25, 1972 [54] BALL AND SOCKET GAME DEVICE 211 App]. No.: 102,302

....273/144 B, 273/135 B ..A63f 7/04, A631 7/14 .273/144 B, 144 A, 144 R, 135 B;

35/30, 24 R, 24 C, 31 B [52] U.S.Cl. [51] Int. Cl. [58] Field of Search [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,095,655 7/1963 Berglund et al ..273/144 B UX 2,233,589 3/1941 Dean ..273/144 B 498,676 9/1954 Italy ..35/30 121,801 12/1918 Great Britain.

231,971 4/1925 Great Britain.....

192,030 5/1923 Great Britain..... ....273/l44 B Primary Examiner-Anton O. Oechsle Assistant Examiner-Arnold W. Kramer AIl0rne vJohnson & Kline [57] ABSTRACT There is disclosed an elongate box having a transparent top portion, and under the top portion a plate having a flat horizontal surface and a contiguous inclined flat surface, the box containing a plurality of groups of colored balls resting on said plate, the balls of each group being of a color different from the balls of the other groups, the horizontal surface of the plate having five rows of hemispherical sockets to receive some of the balls when the box is tilted to cause the balls resting on said inclined surface to roll over the horizontal socketcontaining surface and after the box is tilted back to cause the balls not retained in the sockets to roll onto the inclined surface, the scoring being based on the number of rows of sockets containing the same color balls.

1 Claim, 5 Drawing Figures PATENTEnJuLzs m2 3.679.211

I all h] I W INVENTOR.

MMQZZ B lib/ Z a y 197' MFA/E rs BALL AND SOCKET GAME DEVICE This invention relates to means for playing a game in which a plurality of balls contained in a box having a top portion, at least part of which is transparent, are caused, by tilting the box from end to end and side to side, to roll over a generally flat horizontal surface provided with sockets into which all the balls may fall to be temporarily held thereby. Usually, such games require skill, practice and patience to obtain the desired result.

An object of this invention is to provide a game of the above type in which the results to be obtained are achieved by chance.

Another object is to provide a game that represents wellknown games, for instance lotto, bingo or ticktack-toe, which can be played competitively as well as solitaire to pass the time or for amusement.

A feature of this invention is the provision of such a game device in which the opportunity for skillfully obtaining the desired result is nil.

These and other objects and features of this invention are attained by the present invention by the provision of an elongate box having at least a portion of the top or cover formed of transparent material and having a plate under and spaced from the top provided at one end with a flat surface having a plurality of approximately hemispherical ball-receiving sockets arranged according to a particular pattern, the flat surface of the plate being substantially horizontal and being extended by a flat downwardly sloping surface or ramp. The ramp surface is sufficiently extensive to support a multiplicity of balls and has such an angular relation to the socket-containing surface of the plate as to hold substantially all of the balls when the box is tilted so that the ramp is lowermost with reference to the socket-containing surface of the plate.

When the box is tilted so that the normally inclined ramp surface of the plate inclines toward the socket-containing surface thereof, the balls roll by gravity to and lie upon the socket-containing surface of the plate, some of the balls falling into the sockets in the plate. Upon tilting the box in the opposite direction, the balls not retained in the sockets return to the ramp.

The multiplicity of balls contained by the box comprise-a plurality of groups of balls of different colors and the sockets are arranged in rows. The game may be scored according to the number of rows of like colored balls filling the sockets when the box is tilted to return the balls not retained by the sockets to the inclined ramp surface of the plate.

Other features and advantages will hereinafter appear.

In the accompanying drawings showing one form of the in vention, that at present preferred:

FIG. 1 is a plan view of the game device of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a side view of the device of the present invention partly in section.

FIG. 3 is a plan view showing an arrangement of the balls in the sockets, the shading indicating the colors of the balls.

FIG. 4 is a view of the game device similar to that shown in FIG. 2 but with a rectangular cover or top.

FIG. 5 is a view similar to FIG. 1 on a smaller scale showing a form of the invention in which only the portion of the box which is over the cavity-containing portion is transparent.

As shown in the accompanying drawings, the game device of the present invention comprises an elongate rectangular box having a bottom or base 11 and a cover portion 12 which comprises the ends 13 and 14, the sides 15 and a top 16 of the box. The bottom 11 has upstanding marginal flanges 17 which may be welded or otherwise adhered to the cover 12.

Supported within the box 10 is a plate 18 having peripheral flanges 19 whose ends 1911 are bent out and extend between and are secured to the bottoms of the ends and sides of the cover 12. The flanges 19 support the plate 18 between the cover 12 and the base 11. The bottom 11 of the box may be omitted, if desired, in which case the flanges 19 would support the plate over a table on which the device would lie.

One end 20 of the plate 18 which is parallel with the base 11 is provided with a plurality of spaced approximately hemispherical ball-receiving sockets 21.

In the form of the invention illustrated as exemplary thereof, the sockets 21 are arranged in rows of five sockets each disposed longitudinally and transversely on the end 20 of the plate 18.

The other end 22 of the plate 18 is devoid of sockets and is flat but inclines downwardly toward the base 11 and provides sufficient space to support and contain a multiplicity of balls 23 when the base of the box is horizontal.

When the end 14 of the box 10 is tilted upwardly, the balls 23 roll along the ramp 22 and come to rest over the socketcarrying surface 20 at the end 13 of the box. In so rolling some of the balls 23 fall into and occupy the sockets 21.

After all or almost all of the balls 23 rest on the portion 20 of the plate 18, the end 13 of the box is tilted upwardly causing the balls that are not retained in the hemispherical sockets 21 to return to the ramp surface 22 of the plate.

According to the present invention, the balls 23 severally are of a number of different colors. For instance, some of the balls may be red balls 24, some may be white balls 25, and some may be blue balls 26. It should be understood, however, that additional groups of different colored balls may be used, if desired. Preferably, there are an equal number of balls of each color.

When, as illustrated in the accompanying drawings, there are twenty five ball-receiving sockets 21, it has been found that about thirty five balls of each color provide a sufficient mass to assure that each socket will contain a ball in the intended use of the device, but any number of balls of each color may be used, and it is not absolutely necessary that an equal number of balls be provided for each color.

The game may be scored by crediting each player according to the number of rows of balls of all one color which are retained in the sockets after each tilting of the box whether the rows are longitudinal, transverse or diagonal.

In order to increase the interest of the game, one of the balls may be of an entirely different color, for instance the gold ball 27, and this ball may be considered as wild" and may be used to complete any row or rows having merely four balls of the same color.

Regarding scoring, and referring to FIG. 3, the transverse row 28 contains five red balls 24 which may count as one point. The other rows each contain balls of two colors and do not count toward the score. However, the transverse row 29 has four blue balls 26 and the gold ball 27 which may be considered as though it were blue and therefore the transverse row 29 would count for one point, giving a score of two points for that roll.

It will be noted that the arrangement of the sockets 21 as shown herein has five rows of sockets of five sockets each, and thus the game may be scored as in the game of bingo. Other arrangements of the sockets may be made within the broader aspects of this invention.

The top of the cover 12 as shown in FIG. 2 may slope downwardly and outwardly, or as shown in FIG. 4 the top cover 30 may be parallel with the base 11, in which case there is more space for the balls. Further the top of the cover may be entirely transparent or as shown in FIG. 5, the portion 31 over the ball sockets 21 may be transparent, while the portion 32 over the ramp 22 may be opaque to hide the balls from the view of the player.

Variations and modifications may be made within the scope of the claims and portions of the improvements may be used without others.

I claim:

1. A ball and socket game device comprising an elongate box rectangular in cross-section of a size to be conveniently held in the hand of a player, said box having a bottom plate and including a cover portion, a plate underlying and spaced from said cover portion, said plate having a flat substantially horizontal surface substantially parallel to the bottom plate and provided with a plurality of parallel rows of hemispherical ball-receiving sockets, said plate having a second flat unapertured and unobstructed surface which is contiguous with said horizontal surface and slopes downwardly away from said horizontal surface toward an end wall of the box when the box is held horizontal, and a plurality of groups of balls contained in said box between the cover portion and said plate and supported by said second surface of said plate when the box is held horizontally, said balls each haVing a diameter slightly less than that of the said sockets, each group ofballs containing a predetermined number of balls and being of a different color from the balls of the other groups and each group of balls containing substantially more balls than there are sockets in said plate, the balls being free to roll en masse from said flat sloping surface of the plate toward the horizontal socket-containing surface of the plate when the sloping surface is tilted upwardly whereby one of the balls indiscriminately comes to rest in each of said sockets and remains there when the box is tipped in the opposite direction, the balls remaining in the sockets by gravity until discharged therefrom by tilting the box in said opposite direction, the cover of the box having at least a portion which is transparent to expose to view the surface of the plate provided with the ball-receiving sockets.

* t I! k 

1. A ball and socket game device comprising an elongate box rectangular in cross-section of a size to be conveniently held in the hand of a player, said box having a bottom plate and including a cover portion, a plate underlying and spaced from said cover portion, said plate having a flat substantially horizontal surface substantially parallel to the bottom plate and provided with a plurality of parallel rows of hemispherical ballreceiving sockets, said plate having a second flat unapertured and unobstructed surface which is contiguous with said horizontal surface and slopes downwardly away from said horizontal surface toward an end wall of the box when the box is held horizontal, and a plurality of groups of balls contained in said box between the cover portion and said plate and supported by said second surface of said plate when the box is held horizontally, said balls each haVing a diameter slightly less than that of the said sockets, each group of balls containing a predetermined number of balls and being of a different color from the balls of the other groups and each group of balls containing substantially more balls than there are sockets in said plate, the balls being free to roll en masse from said flat sloping surface of the plate toward the horizontal socket-containing surface of the plate when the sloping surface is tilted upwardly whereby one of the balls indiscriminately comes to rest in each of said sockets and remains there when the box is tipped in the opposite direction, the balls remaining in the sockets by gravity until discharged therefrom by tilting the box in said opposite direction, the cover of the box having at least a portion which is transparent to expose to view the surface of the plate provided with the ball-receiving sockets. 